Although we take time to be thankful during the holiday season, we should be thankful all year long! There are so many things I have to be thankful for this holiday season, and all year long: My family, my company, my work, my new house, the songs and albums I have recorded in multiple studios, the multiple books I have written and published that I have now surpassed Charles Dickens, the festivals I have helped organize and run, Christmas snow, road trips, vacation, my man cave, my new giant tv, my new grill, being able to work often from home, taking the train to work, and so many other little things that I blush with how blessed I have been and still am.

My New Year’s Resolution is to be thankful all year long and never forget how blessed I have been and how blessed I am every day.

Even though changes can be frightening. Even though changes can be painful. Even though changes are dreaded because they make us work harder than we usually work. Even though we spend so much time and energy fighting change than if we would just let the changes happen, we find that if we accept change, things get better.

Change can mean the end of something good but it can also mean the beginning of something better. I am going through many changes in my life right now both domestically and professionally and I find that if I am patient and let change happen, than the I soar high and the sky is the limit.

We drove together from Seattle down to Portland. He drove all the way, in his car. We listened to each other’s music, talked about everything from his job to my job, friends to career, to cars and girls. It was a very rewarding time and we learned a great deal about each other.

We have been very close, my son and I, since the day he was born and he spent the first night in this world sleeping on my chest. But as he has grown and become a young adult, we have found there are different things we both like. Even though he is my mini me just as I was my father’s mini me, this trip solidified our closeness and gave us even more great memories together. I highly recommend each parent take a road trip with each of their children.

Despite hurdles and obstructions in your life, keep moving downstream. I find that often there are rocks in my stream, falling branches and even tree trunks, but I have to keep flowing like a river downstream. Sometimes I even get caught on and sent off into side pools where I become stagnant and start to grow moss, but I have to break out, get back into the current and return to my life flow and even increase my speed.

My life is like being a stream and despite those things that can fall in my way and try to block me or alter my course, I look for new ways to overcome and continue. Even when the weather changes and things start to freeze up, I try to remain focused on the goal: To get all the way to the ocean and expand my life, experience and horizons, and I hope you will do the same.

Besides being Monday, which typically gets me depressed, having to go back to work after an awesome weekend, it was doubly hard this Monday since it was also after an amazing New Year’s vacation! I had to mentally and emotionally, as well as physically, adjust this Monday to go back to work, after spending the New Year in the wild! It was an amazing time among the wild deer and Elk, hiking to waterfalls, exploring the rocky Oregon coast and following the trails of lighthouses.

If you are like me, you need a pick me up on Mondays to get back into the habits and routines of the week. I like to start with a nice, strong cup of coffee, like Starbucks French Roast or at this time of year, “Christmas blend!” I hope that helps you get going as well. And along with this photo I took of Haystack rock on the Oregon coast, I hope it “picks you up” (and picks me up!) and that you have a great week.

Even though the holidays are over, the season of giving goes on. This is a good time to call mom or dad, especially if you haven’t spoken in a while, just to say you love them and appreciate them. This is also a good time to make up with that sibling that you have had differences with. Life is too short to hold grudges. And sit down and talk to your children, give them a hug and tell them you love them. Don’t just talk at them, listen actively to what they say.

It’s also a good time to contact that friend who you may have parted ways with, or to rectify issues with a co-worker to whom you may not have always seen eye to eye. Remember that life is short and friends and family, loved ones and opportunities, are too few and far between to let them slip through your fingers and ignore them until it is too late. Happy New Year everyone!